2nd ODI, Preview: India vs England at Lords

London, July 13 - After a convincing victory in the first One-Day International (ODI), India will aim to seal the three match series with another win when they face hosts England in the second match at famous Lords on Saturday.

But the middle and lower-order is yet to be tested but the way English bowlers were playing it seemed an uphill task to reach India's middle and lower order. In the bowling department, Kuldeep continued to remain headache for English batsmen. In the shortest format also and now in 50-overs game.

Kuldeep scalped six wickets for just 25 runs. He was well supported by pacer Umesh Yadav but the pacer was little expensive.

The only concern for India is the pacers. Umesh, Hardik Pandya, debutant Siddharth Kaul were not effective as they leaked few runs when spinners, Kuldeep, Yuzvendra Chahal trying to put pressure on English batsmen.

England, on the other hand, had many things to work on. Their batsmen failed to click in unison. If top-order clicks middle and lower order fails. Joe Root continued his poor shot selection in the first match also while skipper Eoin Morgan failed to utilise the start.

The bowling department also seemed to be struggling as no bowlers were able to put pressure on India bstamen. Mark Wood, David Willy, experienced Liam Plunkett and Ben stokes need to click this time in order to take the series to the third match.

So its a do-or-die game for the English players as one more loss and they are out of contention. 

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, MS Dhoni (Wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shreyas Iyer, Siddarth Kaul, Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

England: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (Wicket-keeper), Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Jake Ball, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Mark Wood

Ajinkya Rahane with his wife Radhika Dhopavkar

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IANS